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L-R: Seungri, G-Dragon, Taeyang, T.O.P, Daesung

Big Bang (Korean: 빅뱅) is a South Korean Boy Band that debuted in 2006 as YG Entertainment's first attempt at an idol group. The results were, to put it mildly, successful.

Initially, Big Bang started out following South Korea's standard boy band formula, and their songs and music videos were heavily influenced by Western hip-hop and R&B. More than a decade on, they have established themselves as one of the most successful boy bands of all time, and their diverse discography and charismatic stage presence has cemented their status — as a group and individually — as icons of K-pop history.

Many fans and music industry figures agree that Big Bang's rise to fame was due to the creative control the members have maintained over their careers since their debut. Heavily contributing to this is leader G-Dragon, who currently has over 170 songs listed under his name by the Korea Music Copyright Association.

Beginning with the 2007 single "Lies", Big Bang had a string of hits that solidified them as one of the nation's top boy bands. As of 2018, Big Bang have had 18 singles sit atop South Korea's largest online music service, Melon, for a record 51 weeks. In addition, since the inception of the Gaon Digital Chart in 2010, they have achieved 10 number-one singles.

Big Bang fans are officially called V.I.P.'s. Equally popular and successful is their Distaff Counterpart, the Girl Group 2NE1. There's even a Chinese band named Ok-Bang.

They were also nominated as best Worldwide Act, representing Asian Pacific, for 2011 MTV Europe music awards - and won!

All of the members of the group have also debuted as solo artists. The group has two sub-units, GD & TOP and GD X Taeyang (also known as GDYB).

By 2023, all the members have left YG Entertainment.

    Members 
Active:
  • Daesung / D-Lite (Kang Daesung, born April 26, 1989) – Lead Vocalist
  • G-Dragon / GD (Kwon Jiyong, born August 18, 1988) - Leader, Main Rapper, Vocalist, Face of the Group
  • Taeyang / SOL (Dong Youngbae, born May 18, 1988) - Main Vocalist, Main Dancer

Former

  • Seungri / V.I. (Lee Seunghyun, December 12, 1990)note - Lead Dancer, Vocalist, Maknae
  • T.O.P (Choi Seunghyun, born November 4, 1987)note  - Lead Rapper, Vocalist, Visual


BIGBANG provides examples of:

     Band and Member Tropes 
  • Big Ol' Eyebrows: T.O.P has got quite the pair
  • Boy Band: A Korean Pop Music boy group.
  • Cast Full of Pretty Boys: Ironically, they were mocked by Korean journalists and netizens alike for being 'ugly', when they first debuted. Now they have to eat their words as T.O.P consistently is part of the 'Hottest Kpop male idols' list and they use their appeal and soft looks as part of their on-stage personality.
  • The Dandy: G-Dragon.
  • The Fashionista: G-Dragon, and to an extent, T.O.P and Seungri.
  • Impossibly Cool Clothes:
    • They're sponsored by numerous brands including Givenchy and Saint Laurent, so it's inevitable. Adam Lambert even jokes at one point that he would like to steal their clothes.
    • G-Dragon's known as a fashionista who sets trends in Kpop, but at the same time he's also met with criticism for his excessive taste in fashion.
  • Happily Married: Taeyang married his girlfriend of five years, Min Hyorin, in February 2018.
  • Mr. Fanservice: Taeyang is not at all afraid to show off his chest on stage.
  • Real Men Wear Pink: Most of them have worn different shades of pink in music videos or live performances — from pastel hues to flashy magentas. G-Dragon, T.O.P, and Taeyang have also dyed their hair pink.
  • Singing Voice Dissonance: G-Dragon's speaking voice is usually low-pitched but he performs his songs with falsetto notes.
  • Solo Side Project: Every member has had at least one solo album (with the exception of T.O.P., who still released a subunit album with G-Dragon and has done several solo songs.)
  • Stage Names: Everyone in the group.
    • G-Dragon's real name is Kwon Jiyong (he derived his stage name from his actual name - 'Ji' sounds like the pronunciation of 'G' in English, and 'yong' means dragon in Korean. He's also born in the year of the Dragon in the Chinese Zodiac.)
    • T.O.P's real name is Choi Seunghyun.
    • Taeyang's real name is Dong Youngbae.
    • Seungri's real name is Lee Seunghyun.
    • While Daesung uses his real name as his stage name in Korea, he's known as D-Lite in Japan
    • Two members use Japanese stage names for their promotions in Japan (namely, SOL and V.I., for Taeyang and Seungri respectively).

    Music Tropes 
  • Darker and Edgier:
    • Although they have maintained their distinct party sound, their later work definitely shows how they've matured over the years.
    • Jiyong's second album, Coup D'etat, is much darker then anything else released by them, to the point that the most common reaction to Crooked was "Are you okay?"
    • Their 2015 single Loser is even more depressing and heavy than Crooked. [1] The guys interviewed that they wanted to show they have their own inner pain and struggle just as much as everyone else. Their whole 2015 comeback has singles like the very suggestive Bae Bae, the intense and devilish Bang Bang Bang, and deeply sad songs like Loser and If you. Not only thematically, but musically they also seem to be more experimental with their sound and mix of genres.
  • Fun with Foreign Languages: At the ending of "Baby Good Night", a woman speaks a few words in French.
  • Genre Shift: During their early years they had a mostly hip-hop and R&B sound. Later on it slowly evolved, experimenting with techno, pop, rap, and rock.
  • Incredibly Long Note: Daesung's job and rightfully so as he can pull off a powerful one, an example being the one in "Fantastic Baby".
  • Trap Music: Their newer music has definitely been influenced by this genre. See Good Boy and Crayon.

    Music Video Tropes 
  • Pretty in Mink: In the video for "Forever With You", the girl wears a white fur jacket, and the two guys wear fur-trimmed jackets.
  • Shout-Out: G-Dragon's Crayon music video has a picture of The Joker showing up. Justified since the song revolves on the phrase "why so serious?"
  • The Stoic: In music videos, T.O.P rarely does any facial movement except twitch his eyebrows. (but this) In live performances, he executes their dance moves with the least effort.


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